Intro...

This site is all about environmental consciousness--how to find, inform, and apply it. It connects the dots between science, sustainability, and the spirit, to help build a new relationship with our planet. Individual by individual.

Politics

I'm convinced that 'The Truth' comes in all guises, shapes and forms. All suited to the frame, mindset, and expectations of the receiver of that truth. In fact, it's what makes my work so interesting, challenging, and fun. Sorting through the full spectrum of hard held beliefs--and the truths that help make them so--is a fascinating, though sometimes head-scratching endeavor.

Happily to say, along comes a deep and credible resource to help clear the air. DeSmogBlog, which has actually been around since '05, certainly makes my job easier with its focus on "clearing the PR pollution that clouds the science on climate change". Believe it or not, though, it's crafted by a group of communications professionals who are themselves PR practitioners. But of a decidedly enlightened sort. So, who better to provide us with a rich and revealing DeSmog "Denier Database", loads of informative links and resources, and current climate change stories and tips?

Right off, I want to thank the crew for alerting me to the issue of NewScientist (pictured right here) carrying it's useful Climate Change: Guide for the Perplexed--see it online here. I rank it up there with my previously favorited How to talk to a climate skeptic site.

As always, I encourage you to visit the site and see for yourself. After all, I don't know what's going to trigger your eConsciousness--but being able to cut through the hype a bit more easily will certainly help. Here's to the truth.

Every so often I come across something that makes me smack my forehead and say "Jeez, now I get it." And then of course, being the sort of self-critical type I am I invariably follow with "...now why couldn't I have come up with that?"

Well, today's blast comes from Tom Friedman's article in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, headlined The Power of Green. Frankly, I would have preferred he name it 'Of Zingers and green piece' or something like that, but he didn't, and so I had to. "Why?" you ask? Because this piece is so full of zingers--read: powerfully enlightening realities about climate change vs. the globe as we know it. And, it's about a kind of green that not too many of us have been able to articulate yet, or even envision.

I would love for you all to read this piece. In full. But in case that's inconvenient, I'll lift a few of the choicest parts for you. On second thought, do read it, because this article's true mastery lies in how well it's all connected. But go ahead, sample a bit...

"In the world of ideas, to name something is to own it. If you can name an issue, you can own the issue. One thing that always struck me about the term “green” was the degree to which, for so many years, it was defined by its opponents — by the people who wanted to disparage it. And they defined it as “liberal,” “tree-hugging,” “sissy,” “girlie-man,” “unpatriotic,” “vaguely French.”

Well, I want to rename “green.” I want to rename it geostrategic, geoeconomic, capitalistic and patriotic. I want to do that because I think that living, working, designing, manufacturing and projecting America in a green way can be the basis of a new unifying political movement for the 21st century. A redefined, broader and more muscular green ideology is not meant to trump the traditional Republican and Democratic agendas but rather to bridge them when it comes to addressing the three major issues facing every American today: jobs, temperature and terrorism."

"The dirty little secret is that we’re fooling ourselves. We in America talk like we’re already “the greenest generation,” as the business writer Dan Pink once called it. But here’s the really inconvenient truth: We have not even begun to be serious about the costs, the effort and the scale of change that will be required to shift our country, and eventually the world, to a largely emissions-free energy infrastructure over the next 50 years."

"Sometime after 9/11 — an unprovoked mass murder perpetrated by 19 men, 15 of whom were Saudis — green went geostrategic, as Americans started to realize we were financing both sides in the war on terrorism. We were financing the U.S. military with our tax dollars; and we were financing a transformation of Islam, in favor of its most intolerant strand, with our gasoline purchases. How stupid is that?"

"No wonder more Americans have concluded that conserving oil to put less money in the hands of hostile forces is now a geostrategic imperative. President Bush’s refusal to do anything meaningful after 9/11 to reduce our gasoline usage really amounts to a policy of “No Mullah Left Behind.” James Woolsey, the former C.I.A. director, minces no words: “We are funding the rope for the hanging of ourselves.”"

"People change when they have to — not when we tell them to — and falling oil prices make them have to. That is why if we are looking for a Plan B for Iraq — a way of pressing for political reform in the Middle East without going to war again — there is no better tool than bringing down the price of oil. When it comes to fostering democracy among petroauthoritarians, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a neocon or a radical lib. If you’re not also a Geo-Green, you won’t succeed."

"“Think of the climate change issue as a closet, and behind the door are lurking all kinds of monsters — and there’s a long list of them,” Pacala said. “All of our scientific work says the most damaging monsters start to come out from behind that door when you hit the doubling of CO2 levels.” As Bill Collins, who led the development of a model used worldwide for simulating climate change, put it to me: “We’re running an uncontrolled experiment on the only home we have.”"

"To convey the scale involved, Socolow and Pacala have created a pie chart with 15 different wedges. Some wedges represent carbon-free or carbon-diminishing power-generating technologies; other wedges represent efficiency programs that could conserve large amounts of energy and prevent CO2 emissions. They argue that the world needs to deploy any 7 of these 15 wedges, or sufficient amounts of all 15, to have enough conservation, and enough carbon-free energy, to increase the world economy and still avoid the doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere. Each wedge, when phased in over 50 years, would avoid the release of 25 billion tons of carbon, for a total of 175 billion tons of carbon avoided between now and 2056.

Here are seven wedges we could chose from: “Replace 1,400 large coal-fired plants with gas-fired plants; increase the fuel economy of two billion cars from 30 to 60 miles per gallon; add twice today’s nuclear output to displace coal; drive two billion cars on ethanol, using one-sixth of the world’s cropland; increase solar power 700-fold to displace coal; cut electricity use in homes, offices and stores by 25 percent; install carbon capture and sequestration capacity at 800 large coal-fired plants.” And the other eight aren’t any easier. They include halting all cutting and burning of forests, since deforestation causes about 20 percent of the world’s annual CO2 emissions."

"According to Lester Brown, the founder of the Earth Policy Institute, if China keeps growing at 8 percent a year, by 2031 the per-capita income of 1.45 billion Chinese will be the same as America’s in 2004. China currently has only one car for every 100 people, but Brown projects that as it reaches American income levels, if it copies American consumption, it will have three cars for every four people, or 1.1 billion vehicles. The total world fleet today is 800 million vehicles!"

"The only way to stimulate the scale of sustained investment in research and development of non-CO2 emitting power at the China price is if the developed countries, who can afford to do so, force their people to pay the full climate, economic and geopolitical costs of using gasoline and dirty coal. Those countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol are starting to do that. But America is not."

"President Bush claims he’s protecting American companies by not imposing tough mileage, conservation or clean power standards, but he’s actually helping them lose the race for the next great global industry. Japan has some of the world’s highest gasoline taxes and stringent energy efficiency standards for vehicles — and it has the world’s most profitable and innovative car company, Toyota. That’s no accident."

"Being serious starts with reframing the whole issue — helping Americans understand, as the Carnegie Fellow David Rothkopf puts it, “that we’re not ‘post-Cold War’ anymore — we’re pre-something totally new.” I’d say we’re in the “pre-climate war era.” Unless we create a more carbon-free world, we will not preserve the free world. Intensifying climate change, energy wars and petroauthoritarianism will curtail our life choices and our children’s opportunities every bit as much as Communism once did for half the planet."

...OK, I'm back. If only to say, "I'm sorry NY Times and Mr. Friedman for lifting so much of your stuff--but it's got to get out there. I hope you'll understand."

Thanks for reading this far, and by the way...don't forget about Earth Day this coming weekend. If I'm able, I'll put up a few pointers before it's here. But meanwhile, go find something you can do to make a little noise about it. Your eConsciousness will definitely be happy you did.

Clearly when we're sometimes in a funk and feeling hopeless and are running out of steam and all that--well, we simply need to be reminded how dismal things really could be.

I write this mainly for newcomers to the scene, or the recently eConsciously-activated as I like to call them. Mainly because I believe in the power of new-found committment, and because those who find themselves so enabled ought to appreciate what it means to have a clean slate and fresh optimism.

A sustainability network-mate of mine, who's been at this for a long time and lives in the U.K., recently circulated this note around, and I'd like to share it with you. Discouraging as it may appear, I say "the reinforcements are here". And with the groundswell of awareness, understanding, and action we're now seeing, there's good reason for hope. But read ahead and see for yourself...

"Here in the UK, I am absolutely & unshakably convinced that in matters such as this, our people will only respond (in the numbers required) if their government takes some kind of a lead: In other words the well known " It can't be important because the government isn't doing anything about it" scenario. People these days (in the UK at least) actually want to believe that politicians are liars and cheats, so when stories emerge in the media like this latest one, their fears appear to be confirmed. I see this from both sides as I work on a Parliamentary Climate Change Group and deal with these politicians regularly. The problem is one of conflicting agendas, & there is so much conflict in both the main political parties right now that they just go around in circles. We are currently working on a Climate Change Bill for example, which is shaping up to be as effective as a chocolate teapot . . . .
I'm not usually negative - I would not have survived thirty years in this business if I was not an optimist, but right now, to be absolutely honest I think that we are losing the plot with climate change."

As you know, today the U.N.'s long awaited report from International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was issued (in Paris). Its assessment, reflecting the research of over 2,500 scientists from 113 countries, is pretty sobering, and concludes that it's a virtual slam dunk (actually, they were a bit more circumspect) that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases are the culprit. Some may still argue that point, but I wonder who's gonna listen.

How's this for hard reality?...

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level."

Add this to tidbits like...

"...the average temperature of the global ocean has incresed to depths of at least 3000m..."

"At continental, regional, and ocean based scales, numerous long-term changes in climate have been observed."

"The last time the polar regions were significantly warmer than present for an extended period (about 125,000 years ago), reductions in polar ice volume led to 4 to 6 meters of sea level rise."

"Anthropogenic warming and sea level rise would continue for centuries due to the timescales associated with climate processes and feedbacks, even if greenhouse gas concentrations were to be stabilized."

What have we wrought?

Next topic: Wedges.

In the wake of this report, you will probably hearing a lot of talk about wedges. Climate "stabilization wedges". These are the brainchild of two Princeton University professors who profess (that's what they do, right?) that it's still possible to avoid climate catastrophe by applying the right set of 'wedges' from our toolbox of energy technologies, thereby flattening the rate of emissions growth asap, and holding it there for the next 50 years. This is put in perspective much better than I could, in a feature on the wonderfully informative Climate Repair web site.

If you relate to this concept--and I believe most of you will--then you'll have to check out the Stabilization Wedges Game. Princeton's Environmental Institute has created a fully downloadable version to allow you to learn, and challenge yourself to take on some of the tough decisions that wedging our way to a cure would take. It looks like a great education tool.

Last topic: $10,000.

Now, if you're a scientist, or know of one, this should catch your attention. A story today in the U.K.'s Guardian Unlimited reported that the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a think tank with "close links to the Bush administration" has offered scientists $10,000 each "for articles that emphasize the shortcomings of a report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." You know what report that's referring to, right? But did you know who's engaged AEI to undertake this campaign to undermine the study? I'll give you a hint...it's a very big oil company who's actions of late could well be seen as XX rated.

I'll leave you to mull that over and take a look at the game. Let me know how it goes.

I may have my own political persuasion, but I've chosen not to make it a top item in this blog. Why? Because I want Republicans too (oops, I gave it away) to feel comfortable coming here for information.

While current politics prevail, it is clearly Democrats who are most visibly dealing with the environmental agenda in its many facets. And so, the enthusiasm which greeted Tuesday's election results is certainly merited. An email I got from Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club pointed with obvious satisfaction to victories by numerous green Democrats over their non-enlightened, or even obstructionist opponents. Under current circumstances I'm thrilled with the outcome.

But consider this (and I paraphrase from a stirring speech given by Deval Patrick following his election as the new Governor of Massachusetts). The job of the newly elected is not to govern for the winners...but to govern for all. On the environment and sustainability, this is especially relevant, because if we don't effectively engage people across political lines, we will all be losers eventually. Democrats alone will not get the job done. If we cannot motivate people of all persuasions to understand that a healthy and balanced planet is the concern of everyone, then broad scale success will never be possible.

To that end, I invite readers from all persuasions to open your minds to the common ground we all stand on. Realize that within your political frame there exists room for respecting and tending this finite planet. And only by so doing can we ever all win.

The Republican Party must learn from Tuesday's election results by focusing on urgent national problems and rediscovering traditional conservative stewardship.

Republicans for Environmental Protection congratulates our endorsed candidates for the U.S. Senate and House who won November 7 in a difficult year for Republicans. REP also congratulates California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for the re-election that he earned through his results-oriented, environmentally responsible administration.

So celebrate the results of our political process, but remember that it all starts with you, with your neighbor, their neighbor, and on and on...

As you know by now, I believe that each individual will follow their eConsciousness where it feels right. They'll change the products they buy and use in their homes, lead their businesses towards sustainability, support local farms, or take a role in education and advocacy--each a form of activism in its own right.

They may just need a push to get there. So here's a reminder to add this action to all of your lists--vote. With a million small initiatives and some very large ones needed to avert the worst of a climate crisis, the more awareness and support that comes from our pubic servants, the better.

Three web sites will help you appreciate what's at stake and provide an easy way for you to help put climate change where it needs to be on the political agenda. First is the Climate Change Coalition site. Start here for a quick, comprehensive look at the latest, via background articles, news, and movie clips.

Next, click from the Coalition site or navigate directly to ClimateUSA. Here, you'll see the trailer for a revealing movie on moving beyond the Kyoto agreement, along with a plea for participating actively in the 2006 Congressional elections. And even though voting day is rapidly approaching, you can take a minute to remind your candidates of your concern about climate change and their ability to lead the way.

The Questions for Candidates site will look up the candidates in your area, and gives you a template loaded with important questions that you can forward to your candidates.

Look, with even Evangelical Christians signing on to the cause in rising numbers, the time for real action in our seats of government is here. It's easy for you to be a part of it, too.